2023 Performers
friday & saturday
friday & saturday
+Bar Band at Alberta Abbey Cafe/Bar
126 NE Alberta St. Friday, Jan. 13 6:00-7:00 pm
+Square Dance Band in the Downstairs Ballroom at Alberta Abbey Saturday, Jan. 14 7:00-8:00 pm
Drawing inspiration from many great string bands along the Virginia-Carolina Blue Ridge, The Alum Ridge Boys & Ashlee bring together the best elements of old time mountain music and traditional bluegrass to produce a uniquely authentic old time sound. The Floyd County-based string band plays regularly for dances and festivals around the region and in 2021 they won the old time band contest at the 85th Annual Old Fiddlers’ Convention in Galax, VA. Featuring Ashlee Watkins (guitar/banjo), Andrew Small (fiddle/ mandolin), Trevor Holder (banjo), Conner Vlietstra (guitar/fiddle/mandolin), and Marshall Willborn (bass), The Alum Ridge Boys & Ashlee’s powerful harmony singing and energetic instrumentals have made them one of Southwest Virginia’s favorite string bands.
Friday Night Concert, Auditorium, Alberta Abbey
Friday, Jan. 13 8:00-8:45 pm
Workshop: Redefining Protest through Music.
Auditorium, Alberta Abbey, Saturday, Jan. 14 – 4:00-5:00 pm
Seattle songsters Ben Hunter & Joe Seamons give life to voices that have long been silenced in American culture. Their award-winning performances are highlighted by story-telling that, rather than bringing the past to life, vividly shows how the past still lives in the present. Through their songs, audiences witness current issues crop up again and again in folk songs, dance tunes, acoustic blues, and prison ballads.
Ben & Joe bounce from fiddle & banjo breakdowns to a cappella field hollers, early jazz to gospel songs featuring Piedmont guitar style and rattlin’ bones. With the same versatility that won them the International Blues Challenge in 2016, and allowed them to record with National Heritage Fellow Phil Wiggins, the duo celebrates the ways Americans have triumphed over oppression through the vitality of their art. Audiences walk away from Ben & Joe’s concerts and workshops inspired to learn more of their own heritage, and engage more deeply with their communities.
Workshop: Redefining Protest through Music. Acts of protest tap into layers of our heritage and identity that strengthen the foundations of what we are fighting for. So how can we root ourselves more deeply in our heritage and identity, thereby strengthening our fight against injustice?
Using roots music as a lens, Ben Hunter and Joe Seamons draw on stories, songs, and the people behind protest movements from around the world, connecting them with layered conceptions of heritage. By redefining the terms “protest” and “heritage”, Hunter and Seamons invite audiences to explore and reimagine our shared humanity.
Thursday
saturday
Accompaniment for the 2-Step Dance Lesson, Cajun Honky Tonk Night, The Spare Room Restaurant and Lounge, 4830 NE 42nd Ave. Thursday, Jan. 12, 7:45-8:00 pm
Steph Noll and Rose Minkler are a banjo and guitar duet who enjoy singing and playing together in and around Portland. They play a variety of old time and vintage country songs along with any other sweet harmonies or sassy numbers that catch their ears. You’ll love learning to 2-Step with them playing.
Maybelle Carter Guitar Intro Workshop – Third Rail Theater Company Room, Alberta Abbey, 126 NE Alberta St. Saturday, Jan. 14 – 3:00-3:50 pm
Bellingham, Washington vocalist and dobro player Laurel Bliss was exposed early in her life to the music of The Carter Family, The Louvin Brothers, and The Stanley Brothers That exposure has inspired a lifelong dedication to unearthing and learning vocal chestnuts. Laurel has a composed, straightforward, yet tender approach to singing, that suggests an earlier era. Her heartfelt vocals have made her a stand-out in acoustic and bluegrass music. The joys of playing by ear and learning to sing with others through the festivals of Weiser, The Festival of American Fiddle Tunes, Voice Works and the Puget Sound Guitar Workshop have shaped her approach to music. She currently plays fiddle and guitar with The Happy Valley Sluggers, a Cajun and Old Time band from Bellingham, Washington.
Maybelle Carter Guitar
Find the melody and keep the rhythm the Maybelle Carter way.
Fingers and picks all welcome in this introduction to the most imitated lead playing style.
Alum Ridge Boys & Ashlee
Bar Band – Alberta Abbey Cafe/Bar – 126 NE Alberta St. Friday, Jan. 13 6:00-7:00 pm
Square Dance Band – Downstairs Ballroom – Alberta Abbey, Saturday, Jan. 14 7:00-8:00 pm
Drawing inspiration from many great string bands along the Virginia-Carolina Blue Ridge, The Alum Ridge Boys & Ashlee bring together the best elements of old time mountain music and traditional bluegrass to produce a uniquely authentic old time sound. The Floyd County-based string band plays regularly for dances and festivals around the region and in 2021 they won the old time band contest at the 85th Annual Old Fiddlers’ Convention in Galax, VA. Featuring Ashlee Watkins (guitar/banjo), Andrew Small (fiddle/ mandolin), Trevor Holder (banjo), Conner Vlietstra (guitar/fiddle/mandolin), and Marshall Willborn (bass), The Alum Ridge Boys & Ashlee’s powerful harmony singing and energetic instrumentals have made them one of Southwest Virginia’s favorite string bands.
Ben Hunter and Joe Seamons
Friday Night Concert, Auditorium, Alberta Abbey 126 NE Alberta St. Friday, Jan. 13 8:00-8:45 pm
Workshop: Redefining Protest through Music. Auditorium, Alberta Abbey 126 NE Alberta St. Saturday, Jan. 14 – 4:00-5:00 pm
Seattle songsters Ben Hunter & Joe Seamons give life to voices that have long been silenced in American culture. Their award-winning performances are highlighted by story-telling that, rather than bringing the past to life, vividly shows how the past still lives in the present. Through their songs, audiences witness current issues crop up again and again in folk songs, dance tunes, acoustic blues, and prison ballads.
Ben & Joe bounce from fiddle & banjo breakdowns to a cappella field hollers, early jazz to gospel songs featuring Piedmont guitar style and rattlin’ bones. With the same versatility that won them the International Blues Challenge in 2016, and allowed them to record with National Heritage Fellow Phil Wiggins, the duo celebrates the ways Americans have triumphed over oppression through the vitality of their art. Audiences walk away from Ben & Joe’s concerts and workshops inspired to learn more of their own heritage, and engage more deeply with their communities.
Workshop: Redefining Protest through Music. Acts of protest tap into layers of our heritage and identity that strengthen the foundations of what we are fighting for. So how can we root ourselves more deeply in our heritage and identity, thereby strengthening our fight against injustice?
Using roots music as a lens, Ben Hunter and Joe Seamons draw on stories, songs, and the people behind protest movements from around the world, connecting them with layered conceptions of heritage. By redefining the terms “protest” and “heritage”, Hunter and Seamons invite audiences to explore and reimagine our shared humanity.
Bet Your Bottom Dollar
Accompaniment for the 2-Step Dance Lesson, Cajun Honky Tonk Night, The Spare Room Restaurant and Lounge, 4830 NE 42nd Ave. Thursday, Jan. 12, 7:45-8:00 pm
Steph Noll and Rose Minkler are a banjo and guitar duet who enjoy singing and playing together in and around Portland. They play a variety of old time and vintage country songs along with any other sweet harmonies or sassy numbers that catch their ears. You’ll love learning to 2-Step with them playing.
Laurel Bliss
Maybelle Carter Guitar Intro Workshop – Third Rail Theater Company Room, Alberta Abbey, 126 NE Alberta St. Saturday, Jan. 14 – 3:00-3:50 pm
Bellingham, Washington vocalist and dobro player Laurel Bliss was exposed early in her life to the music of The Carter Family, The Louvin Brothers, and The Stanley Brothers That exposure has inspired a lifelong dedication to unearthing and learning vocal chestnuts. Laurel has a composed, straightforward, yet tender approach to singing, that suggests an earlier era. Her heartfelt vocals have made her a stand-out in acoustic and bluegrass music. The joys of playing by ear and learning to sing with others through the festivals of Weiser, The Festival of American Fiddle Tunes, Voice Works and the Puget Sound Guitar Workshop have shaped her approach to music. She currently plays fiddle and guitar with The Happy Valley Sluggers, a Cajun and Old Time band from Bellingham, Washington.
Maybelle Carter Guitar
Find the melody and keep the rhythm the Maybelle Carter way.
Fingers and picks all welcome in this introduction to the most imitated lead playing style.
